Fenced-in woman, 81, wins three year & £50,000 battle with council over gap in her garden wall

A RETIRED school teacher has won a £50,000 three-year battle with her local council after they erected a fence across a gap in her garden wall. Helene Ball found herself caged into her own home three years ago by “spiteful” council bosses eager to sell-off a car park to developers. Helene Ball has won a three-year legal battle with the council after she was caged into her own home Credit: Paul Tonge Helene (background) pictured with her children in 1980 when they had access Credit: Paul Tonge Helene moved into her home on George Road in the picturesque village of Matlock, Derbyshire, nearly 60 years ago. In April 2023, Derbyshire County Council ordered a six-foot high green fence to be installed in a gap in her garden wall which led to a council car park. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Before the council’s intervention, the cut-through had offered her a shortcut to friends who live on nearby Cavendish Road. Now, following an ugly three-year legal battle, a tribunal has ruled in Helene’s favour after she proved she had used the gate since the 1960s, reports BBC. Helene’s house (left) with the rear garden route fenced off Credit: Paul Tonge Ball slammed the council after a tribunal ruled in her favour saying they ‘did everything they could to bully me’ Credit: Paul Tonge Ball told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I have taught nine, 10 and 11-year-olds all my life, but I never expected the council to act so babyish, they have been spitting their dummies out of the pram and it has been beyond childish. “They did everything they could to bully me. They tried to put us off but they messed with the wrong ones.” Helene added how she had endured “three years-plus of stress” but “now we have proven they blocked our rights”. The metal fence has now been removed while the council has been ordered to stump up £50,000 in costs. Most read in The Sun Meanwhile, a route has also been established for Helene through the car park, which has been earmarked for a housing development. Judge Robert Brown said in the court ruling that some of the council’s evidence in the case was “totally irrelevant” and “most unhelpful”. The council had sealed in both Helene and her neighbour’s homes at the end of George Road in 2023 Helene said at the time: “I wasn’t in when they did it and they gave me no warning. I was so upset that I could not sleep for three nights. I lost my husband two years ago and this made me feel more alone than ever. “I couldn’t even bring myself to open the gate and look at it I felt such rage. “It is such a spiteful thing to do I can still hardly believe they have done it. I don’t think it can be right when we have had access through that gate for 57 years. “I am glad my husband is not here to see this. He would have been furious. He’d have torn it out with his bare hands.” The neighbour’s fence mysteriously “blew down” soon after it was put up but Helene’s was set in concrete. Helene’s son David, believed the council had failed to do a proper risk assessment and was worried about access for emergency services. “This cul-de-sac gets so tight and clogged up with parked cars at its entrance that sometimes bin lorries can’t get up,” he said in 2023. “If there was a fire then the back of my Mum’s house would be the easiest point of access and now that is impossible for no reason at all. “The same would apply to ambulances. The roads around here are very tight. They have created a real risk for no purpose at all.” The decision also sparked fury with local residents for blocking off the entire 100-space car park when existing roads couldn’t cope with the weight of parked cars. They also slammed the council’s plan for 30 houses on the site. The Sun has contacted Derbyshire County Council for comment.